Regional creative screen industries: an examination of SMEs, creative practitioners and screen organisations in Australia's Hunter region

In the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, Australia, there are a number of film and television production companies that deliver screen content daily into the region, as news and advertising, as well as working on national and international feature films, documentaries, television programs, and corporate and training films. These small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are owned and operated by individuals who have established screen industry careers with awards and international credits in television and cinema. Sustaining these businesses in a regional area requires strategic business skills, a deep knowledge of filmmaking and a diversified offering of creative film and media services. Utilising that knowledge and a strong sense of agency, these SMEs and the creative practitioners who are subcontracted to and collaborate with them have created entrepreneurial enterprises that produce peer-recognised, award-winning films. An ethnographic examination of these SMEs, and the creative practitioners who engage with them, illustrates how regional creative industry practitioners are contributing to a set of conditions that actually helps to sustain these regional businesses in the screen production sector. This research has identified five factors that contribute to creativity, which are teased out through personal narratives and lived experiences of owning businesses, collaborating with competitors, exploiting local infrastructure and services, developing a regional network of highly skilled film-makers and enjoying the lifestyle balance offered by regional living.